What Happens to Those Who Never Hear the Gospel?

One perennial question lingers that plagues the redeemed believer. If it does not bother us deeply—cause us to lose sleep even—we have every reason to suspect the validity of our own conversion. The question is this: what happens to those tribes who do not hear the gospel? 

Let’s answer this question two ways, first logically and then directly with Scripture. 

Suppose that God saves those who have not heard the gospel on the pretense of their being isolated from the announcement of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. What premises would this conclusion demand? It would require one of two premises (possibly both) to be true; (a) that the taint of the sin-plague did not cause this tribe’s ultimate bodily and spiritual death or else (b) that God saves some other way than through the announcement of the gospel. Neither of these premises fit the data of Scripture. 

In fact, if such a tribe’s salvation had been guaranteed through their NOT having heard the gospel, the most dangerous and reckless thing would be for a Christian to preach it to them! At that moment, their soul would then be put in jeopardy after having heard the good news. This would make missions a danger to unengaged tribes by bringing knowledge that, if rejected, could condemn them. 

Let’s allow the Apostle Paul to answer the question in Scripture. In fact he addresses this question head-on in Romans 10:13-17, 

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. 

In this passage, Paul marches through a logical progression which reaches the same conclusion to the one I gave above. Paul enumerates the following points, 

• The Gospel saves all who call upon the Lord (quoting Joel 2:32).
• One calls upon the Lord by believing The Gospel (defined in Romans 10:9-10).
• We must know the gospel in order to believe it.
• The Gospel must be preached in order to be made known.
• In order to be preached, the gospel requires preachers (missionaries) to those place where it is yet unheard.

In conclusion then, Paul answers the question of the fate of the unreached, not with fire and brimstone (although I believe he had full Scriptural warrant to do so), but rather by pleading with the Roman Christians to march outward with the global gospel proceeding joyfully from their lips. 

(This blog post has been excerpted from Pastor Matthew's book Un-Precious: An Invitation to the Joy of Christian Missions). 

Matthew Everhard is the senior pastor of Faith Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Brooksville, Fl. Follow him on Twitter @matt_everhard.

Book Review: Francis Schaeffer. "The God Who is There."

Francis Schaeffer was one of the more important apologists and evangelists in the twentieth century. Almost thirty years after his death, his works seem to many to be prophetic. It becomes all thoughtful Christians to be familiar with his works at some basic level. For many, this volume may be the place to begin.

Full disclosure: readers should know that his "The Great Evangelical Disaster" would be a much easier read for those less conversant in philosophy.

This particular volume is bound with all three of Schaeffer's primary works in his essential trilogy; "The God Who is There," "Escape from Reason," and "He is There and He is Not Silent." Here, I will be reviewing only the first book, "The God Who is There," as it is foundational to its sequels. 

Schaeffer's overall goal is to trace the flow of history to the modern era where the idea of absolute truth ("true truth" as he often calls it) has been abandoned. Schaeffer traces this loss of absolutes at critical junctures in the arenas of philosophy, art, music, and language before moving on to theology. Schaeffer sees the abandonment of absolutes as the death knell to the individual man and the entirety of our culture.

In this work, Schaeffer coins the important term "the line of despair," viz. the threshold at which humanity must abandon rationality and reason in order to also abdicate absolutes. Once a man abandons antithesis (the idea that some things are true and their opposites necessarily untrue; some actions moral and their opposites evil) man begins to live in a realm in which all meaning and truth are compromised. Among the losses most precious, ironically, is man's own understanding of his own life and purpose.

In the realm of theology, Schaeffer diagnoses the problem and deception of liberalism, namely, that it makes a leap into obscurity by removing the traditional meaning of words and replacing them with nebulous undefinable ideas. For instance, the very word "god" can be imputed with virtually any meaning (or lack of meaning) that the speaker desires. While one has the ability to continue the use of religious language (and thus to reap a sentimental benefit) he may simultaneously forgo any real foundational relationship with living God who entered time/space/history in the person of Jesus Christ.

From there, Schaeffer helps Christians to begin to speak to this dreadful existentialism by addressing modern man at the point of his own absurdity. While pointing out the hopelessness of existentialism (what we would now call "post-modernism"; Schaeffer called it modernism), he acknowledges that the weight of the despair of the modern worldview has the potential to crush its adherents if they were intellectually honest enough to live consistently with their own beliefs.

Thus, in the latter half of the book, Schaeffer calls for an intelligent, compassionate defense of the rational, historic Christian faith through a combination of apologetic approaches. Throughout "The God Who Is There," Schaeffer's love for and pity upon unbelieving modern men comes through strongly. Of course, listening and responding to the questions and objections of skeptics was part of his lifeblood, and integral to his intellectual rescue mission in L'Abri in Switzerland.

Ultimately, Schaeffer cries out for three things: (1) an uncompromising defense of doctrinal, systematic Christianity (2) a compassionate approach to men who have fallen below the line of despair and (3) and an integrated all-encompassing worldview founded upon the absolute truth of the God who is (truly) there!

If you are ready for an intellectual challenge, read this book. 

Matthew Everhard is the senior pastor of Faith Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Brooksville, Florida.

Clinging to Hope

It’s funny how we remember the picture books our parents read to us when we were children. I remember one entitled “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.” It begins,

I went to sleep with gum in my mouth, and now there’s gum in my hair, and when I got out of bed this morning I tripped on the skateboard and by mistake I dropped my sweater in the sink while the water was running and I could tell it was going to be a terrible horrible no good very bad day.

When I became an adult, I quickly realized that terrible horrible no good very bad days still happen--they just get a lot more expensive!

In Acts 27, we see a Christian believer, namely the Apostle Paul, do several things well during severe duress: (a) remain transfixed on the sovereignty of God, (b) praise God during the peak of a calamitous storm, and (c) rise from obscurity to lead a contingent of the most ungodly passengers.

Storms, Shipwrecks, and Snakebites

Acts chapters 27 and 28 read like a fast-paced novella. First Paul, Luke, Julius the Roman Centurion, and the prisoners were driven far off their path by a furious storm (27:27). Second, the sailors attempt to escape the doomed ship, leaving the others to die (27:30-32). Third, the ship struck a reef, was run aground, and was destroyed by the surf (27:41). Fourth, there is a murder plot by the soldiers to kill Paul and his fellow prisoners (27:42). And finally as if that wasn’t enough—Paul is bitten by a poisonous viper (28:1-10). This series of events is enough to fray the nerves and destroy the composure of any grown man.

Here are two factors outside your control: the sovereignty of God and the depravity of sinful men. Try as you might to labor, manipulate, finagle, and coax God and others—we are very much at the mercy of these two forces. However this is not to say that your life is like that Alexandrian grain ship in Acts 27, smashed between the surf of destiny and the rocks of fate. There is one factor that you can control in the midst of the life's hurricanes: your response.

I believe it is possible to discern the difference between a mature and immature Christian by what questions they ask during storms, shipwrecks, and snakebites.

• Unbelievers and immature Christians ask “What is God doing TO me?”
• But the mature Christian—who knows both the power of God and the decadence of man-- asks a different question entirely, “What is God doing THROUGH me?”

The thing I like most about Acts 27:33-38 is the absurdity of this scene. Picture this: the ship is three verses away from being smashed to pieces. By the time the sun rises in the sky, every man on that boat will be clinging to boards and paddling for shore. And yet the Apostle Paul—a prisoner himself—decides to host a picnic! And who are the guests? All 276 men aboard including sailors, soldiers, and prisoners. I cannot think of a more ungodly list of dinner guests.

Yet in the midst of the hurricane, with both natural and human evil tearing the ship apart, we see the Apostle Paul--with chains on his wrists--speaking the words of Jesus (“not a hair on your head will perish,” cf. Matthew 10:30 and Luke 21:18), and imitating the compassionate deeds of Jesus (taking bread, thanking God, breaking and eating the bread; cf. Matthew 15:36). With this simple gesture with bread, Paul is pointing to Christ as his supreme joy in the midst of the storm.

Just a simple loaf of bread! That’s all Paul had in his hands for which to give thanks while the ship sinks! It’s not even toasted bread! No jam to slab on it. No coffee in which to dip it. Not a daub of butter on deck anywhere to be found! Just month-old bread. Did anyone see a “Panera” restaurant anywhere in this passage? It’s probably even a bit wet from the sea and the storm. Possibly a bit green with mold. Likely it was stored fore weeks in a barrel or cargo hold somewhere. Just three Christians, Paul, Luke, and Aristarchus and a hoard of pagans, in one of the most unlikely worship services on the biblical record.

And in the midst of the storm, for just a few moments, there is a wonderful, worshipful, thankful, silence. Just 276 men silently chewing their sea-nasty bread. "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10). 

I love how chapter 27 ends with these words: “And so it was that all were brought safely to land.” Safely? Is that a bit of an overstatement? I don’t think so.

It seems that, despite the storm, God carried out His merciful plan and honored His promises after all. It turns out God is a good and merciful God. He really does work all things according to the council of His perfect will. If you are in Christ, there is no safer place in the universe then in the center of His plan.

At some point in your life, like Alexander in the children’s book my mother read to me, you may find yourself having a “terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.” You may find yourself drifting in the open water clinging to a splintered board. But if you are in Christ, there is no safer place in the world.  

I Want Answers

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” - Matthew 7:7-8 ESV

This text dies the death of a thousand qualifications. When we hear the straightforward way that Jesus assures us of the certainty of answered prayer, we are immediately moved to begin qualifying his statements in order to explain the many reasons we do not see this as a reality in our lives. Of course there are qualifications. We must pray according to God’s will and it is only in the name of Jesus Christ that such certainty can be expected. However, when the biblical qualifications have been met, we should have a life full of clearly and specifically answered prayers. The text promises, “it will be given…you will find…it will be opened…everyone who asks receives…the one who seeks finds…to the one who knocks it will be opened.” The clear interpretation of this text should give the believer great optimism in their prayer lives. Yet Andrew Murray is exactly accurate when he writes of Christians, “One of the terrible marks of the diseased state of Christian life these days is that there are so many who are content without the distinct experience of answer to prayer. They pray daily, they ask many things, and they trust that some of them will be heard. But they know little of direct definite answer to prayer as the rule of daily life.”  This is true in our day as well. I have experienced three things in my own journey that have caused my own uncertainty over the years.

                1. My inadequate understanding of God’s sovereignty created paralysis in much of my spiritual life, including my prayer life. When I came to see the reformed/scriptural view of God’s sovereignty and providence over all things I went through a time of uncertainty about my role and responsibility in God’s plan. I was unsure how my activities affected the plan of God. I didn’t want to work in my own strength or contrary to God’s will, so I found myself subconsciously doing nothing. In my prayer life, I found myself qualifying every request with the statement, “If it be your will.” Obviously, we shouldn’t expect God to answer any request that is contrary to his will. However, we should be able to discern his will and pray accordingly, expecting an answer. As I’ve grown in my understanding of the mystery of the relationship between my work and God’s sovereignty or providence, as well as learning that God has ordained the means as well as the ends, I’ve grown in my expectancy in prayer.

               2.  My spirit is willing, but my flesh is weak. Quite simply, discerning the will of God and praying accordingly is hard work. In order to pray effectually the way the Bible teaches us, we must discipline ourselves for godliness. The transformation of our minds and wills does not come easily. We cannot pray according to the will of God without knowing the mind of God. Therefore, we must have a strong conviction that Bible study and prayer are two sides of the coin of communion with God. Much of what we say in our prayers is unbiblical and therefore contrary to the will of God. We must be educated prayers. Take the time to study the Word of God until you become convinced of the biblical validity of your prayers and then pray until they are answered. A word of warning. This is hard work.

               3. Finally, I’m not always absolutely surrendered to the will of God. This is a major battle. George Muller was perhaps the greatest example of effectual prayer the world has ever known. His autobiography is filled with answers to prayer in almost mythical proportions. He teaches us that ninety nine percent of the battle in our prayer lives is to get our wills into such a state that we have no will of our own so can wait on the Lord to fill us with his will. As it is, our hearts are so full of the desires we have for our lives that there is little room for God to fill us with any of his. Everyone that reads Muller, admires him and longs to pray like him. Few long to live like him. Completely yielded to the will of God, often depending on him for his next meal.

We must learn to believe God’s Word and not disqualify his promises with our fleshly excuses. It is his will that we learn to pray and not give up, expecting our prayer lives to be a testimony to the faithfulness of God to his promises.

Oh, I'm Running to Your Arms...

I am by no means a musical expert. In middle school, as a sort of joke, I played clarinet in band class as a school elective credit (It was bad). However, the band Hillsong United has a song called "Forever Reign" that I highly recommend. The main chorus states "I'm running into your arms, the riches of your love will always be enough. Nothing compares to your embrace, light of the world forever reign!" Truer lyrics have never been spoken. The link is listed below...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=au3EGgISYMc

When I think of Paul's imperative exhortation to the Philippian believers to "Rejoice in the Lord!" in Philippians 3:1, I imagine running. This image became real to me over the 4th of July week when I went up to Birmingham, Alabama, and upon arriving at my destination witnessed two boys, 5 and 3, upon exiting the car, run into the arms of their aunt and tackle her out of their excitement. As I witnessed this unabashed happiness, I felt myself experiencing the feeling of joy that comes from the Lord when we are resting in him and are able to see something truly beautiful occur.

Unfortunately joyful moments are surrounded by many painful ones. Difficult circumstances arise in our lives that cause the joy we have received in Christ to be difficult to see. For the Philippians, their difficult circumstances came from the spiritual opposition of the Judaizers. The Judaizers were men who claimed to know God through their outward signs of religious practice, but were communicating doctrine or teachings that were untrue in regards to how to know God. A clear example of this would have been the physical act of circumcision, which these teachers claimed had to be performed in order to assure a person's salvation. Today, we face opposition from numerous sources. Any teaching that commands that we must add to the work of Jesus Christ in order to be saved is false doctrine and is untrue!

Paul speaks strongly to this point when he urges the Philippians in 3:2 to look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. These were strong words against those false teachers, words that incriminated the teachers as dogs or irreverent to the true holiness of God’s character. Paul uses the description of dogs to communicate the idea that these men’s attempts at religious obedience were filthy in the sight of a holy God, similar to how dogs will often role around in their own filth. Paul also claimed that those false teachers were evil or wicked, purposefully trying to confuse and manipulate people’s minds in order to justify their own actions. Essentially, the Philippian church faced a difficult set of circumstances by these false teachers that made the joy found in Christ difficult to see. What circumstances in your life have made you unsure if God was really true, really present, really worth worshipping?

Just as the Philippian Christians would have had trouble seeing the joy they had received due to the Judaizers false teachings pressing upon them, you are reminded to rejoice in the Lord and dwell on the joy you are given while dealing with difficult circumstances. I would challenge you to think about what it would look like to not be dependent on yourself and immediately rush to fix your circumstances. Rather, allow God to be the God who is worthy of rejoicing, allow him to take control and fight your battles and your circumstances.

The two little boys that ran with unbridled adoration and complete passion into the arms of their aunt that they had learned to unequivocally trust. Likewise, I challenge you to run into the arms of Jesus! To unashamedly run into his arms, knowing he loves us and calls us to trust in him. It is only in the arms of Jesus, that true joy can be found.

Amen.

Drew Taylor

3rd Year MDiv Student RTS Orlando

Almost a Christian!

I confess that I stole the title of this blog from John Wesley the founder of Methodism who preached a sermon by the same name in 1741. Fortunately, I felt much better once I realized that Wesley also stole this title from his friend and evangelist George Whitefield. Both men based their messages on Acts 26:28, which in the Authorized King James Version reads, “Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian!”

Almost!

The word “almost” is without a doubt one of the saddest and most tragic words in the English language. It designates the potentiality of what COULD have been. We use the word “almost” to describe what MIGHT have been had one or two factors been altered just slightly.

Athletes retire into the shadows of the comfort of the word “almost.” If one or two yards had been played differently, or if the ball had bounced just slightly in a different trajectory, we might have won. Lovers suffer the agony of what could have bloomed, had one moment been relived. I almost asked her to marry me! Investors incessantly count the bills that they could have had if they had just moved a stock a day or two earlier. How many lay on their beds lamenting, Almost! Almost!

Only Two Categories

Let us be clear. There are really only two classes of human beings, not three. There are those who are redeemed by the blood of Christ, and those who are lost. There is no third category. There is no special class of persons in-between that are half-saved, half-atoned, half-way adopted by God. No one is half-way justified by faith.

Distinguishing Marks

Let’s discuss some of the defining marks of the Almost Christian. What exactly did George Whitefield (a staunch Calvinist) and John Wesley (an unabashed Arminian) mean by “Almost a Christian?”  More importantly, could that be you?

1. He is moral and religious. If you were to ask the “almost Christian” whether or not he is a “good man,” he will unhesitatingly say yes. It will annoy him slightly that you even had to ask. In fact he is in his own mind the “quintessential good man.” He views himself as intelligent, wise, and stately. He shows up for duty, and volunteers for service. A model citizen, he wears medals of honor, both real and imagined, on his chest. Ask him if the world would be a better place if more people were like him. He will respond “of course” (and he really believes it!).

2. He fears not for his soul.  Ask him if he is going to heaven, and again he will give an unqualified yes. His self-righteousness and confidence in his own nature yields little doubt that he will stand unassailable on the Day of Judgment. Anything that God might have against him is clearly nothing but a misunderstanding on God’s part. A few words of clarification and God would soon reckon aright. If he should be summoned to the Great Judgment Seat at all, he believes it will be as a standard by which God might judge other men. In fact, like Festus and Agrippa, he believes it is often HIS duty to do the judging even in this life!

3. He has heard the gospel. He knows Christian theology well. He can never use “I didn’t know” as an excuse for his unconverted state. Some of the greatest Bible debates relate to the fate of the un-evangelized people groups. What will God do with that tribe that never gets a missionary? Never has the Bible translated into their tongue? Has no church? But as interesting as that debate is—it is completely immaterial to the “Almost Christian.” Both Festus and Agrippa cannot use ignorance as any excuse for their state of rebellion.

4. Has a noble view of Jesus. Throughout the ages, philosophers, ethicists, historians, politicians and free-thinkers alike have had a noble view of Jesus. They have admired His teaching, life, purity, pacificism, His love and compassion.  Pontius Pilate himself said, “I find no guilt in this man!” (John 18:38).

5. But He is NOT a Christian.  But despite his “goodness,” and “rectitude”; despite his self-assurance and his high view of his own achievements, and even his high view of Jesus, there is one thing he most certainly is not—a Christian. He has never repented. Never begged for mercy. Never sought shelter in the blood of Christ. Never made Christ his deepest joy and highest prize. He might be but one millimeter from grace, and yet he might as well be a thousand miles away separated by the highest mountains and deepest oceans.

Bill Buckner

You probably remember the 1986 World Series between the Mets and Red Sox. It was the first series I remember well from childhood. Boston was winning three games to two.  Game six went into extra innings.  The Sox had two outs--one away from a title--but with a couple of hits and a wild pitch, the Mets rallied again to tie. Mookie Wilson was next at bat. After a number of foul balls, Wilson hit a bouncer to first base. Bill Buckner stooped to scoop up the ball. Just tag the base and the Sox would be champs. Instead the baseball went between his legs. For the rest of his life, he would live with that terrible word “almost.”

King Agrippa

King Agrippa had the opportunity of a lifetime, to hear the Apostle Paul preach in person; the author of 13 books of the New Testament. Paul was a man who had seen the Resurrected Lord Jesus. The Apostle Paul preached the gospel right to King Agrippa’s heart. Believe it and repent, and Agrippa’s sins could be forgiven. But instead Agrippa let the Gospel go right by him.

Almost!

Matthew Everhard is the Senior Pastor of Faith Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Brooksville Florida.  

How does Mercy Ministry fit into the church?

The next issue of 9Marks is out and discusses how mercy ministry fits into the church. 

http://www.9marks.org/journal/mercy-ministry-church

Quote to get you started: "Bottom line: the local church, institutionally speaking, is called to teach. That is its job. Lose that, you lose everything. But that institution is made up of human beings who must go and do. And where institutional resources (staff time, budget monies, etc.) are available for something more than teaching, they might be wisely and wonderfully stewarded in helping church members to pursue the good deeds that Jesus commands them to do."